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Friends often ask me how my manicure lasts so long, and do I actually cook/clean/wash dishes? (For the record, yes, yes, yes! I actually love cooking.)

So how DO you make your manicure last longer?

Well… there are those all-important first steps: have clean, dry nails before starting your mani (even wiping quickly with a cotton pad soaked in alcohol can help polish adhere longer by removing nail oils), use a good quality base coat under your polish, allow a few minutes to dry between coats and apply 2 coats of polish… finish off with a top coat – I love a quick-dry top coat such as FNUG’s IGEL or China Glaze’s Fast Forward top coats. Wrap the free tip of your nail as you apply top coat (swipe it over the free edge).

So you have done all of the above. Now what?

Even the most careful among us will experience some tip wear after a few days. If you are not ready to let go of your mani, which was the case for me when I was wearing the beautiful Colors by Llarowe Cherry Bomb (see it here), you can extend your mani for a few more days!

“Dry-brush” the first coat of glitter: wipe the brush of the glitter polish inside the bottle, so you are left with more glitter, less base, and apply this over the tips. Let dry a few minutes.
Apply another coat of glitter polish over your tips, this time applying the glitter polish normally.
Let dry, apply top coat, and voila!

Here is the beautiful Shimmer Polish Karina, a perfect glitter to complement Cherry Bomb, applied as a gradient over my tips:

The best part? This barely takes a quarter of the time of a full manicure!

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So today I am going to share a post that I’ve been wanting to write for a while… Some of my manicure and nail beauty regimen, in hopes that you will find it useful or even beneficial.

Please note: I am not a nail technician or a pro in any way, and don’t deem to be professional, but wanted to share some tips and tricks that work for me. 🙂

Nails and Hands:

Many bloggers who focus on nails are often asked how we keep our cuticles tidy and pushed back. It’s not always easy, especially when you have cold, dry winters like we do in Canada! My number 1 tip is to use a good cuticle oil daily (at a minimum). Even better, keep a bottle or tube by your bed and at your workplace, if possible, so that you never have an excuse not to reach for it. : ) Two of my favourite products at the moment are Qtica Solid Gold Cuticle Oil Gel (less runny and more of a gel consistency) and California Mango Magic Cuticle Treatment Oil available at Sally Beauty (which also happens to smell deliciously fruity!).

On a weekly or biweekly basis, I also perform some cuticle maintenance, which includes removing or pushing back cuticles. Massage in a cream cuticle remover (I am currently using this one from Star Nail) after you’ve had a shower or bath, when cuticles are soft. Let it sit for 2 – 3 minutes, and using a sandstone cuticle eraser (like this one from Star Nail), gently start to push the cuticles back, toward the knuckles. I love that the cuticle removing cream helps to slough off dead skin/overgrown cuticles.

After washing hands, you can use your towel to gently push back cuticles once more. Utilizing the towel method alone is also great for those that don’t like using tools or nippers. Once my hands are dry, I sometimes do use cuticle nippers to cut only loose or hanging cuticle skin, nothing more! Please do not cut into your skin as that is very painful and can cause infections. (Trust me lol.)
My favourite thing to do next is to exfoliate my hands, using a hand scrub by brands like OPI, Qtica, or any line you prefer. I love the feeling of freshly exfoliated skin. : )

I generally also gently buff the nail surface after cuticle maintenance as I like to smooth the surface, especially where cuticles might have been. Want to take this a step further? Pour some olive oil in a hand soak bowl, enough to cover your nails and fingertips, and soak your nails in the nourishing oil for 5 or 10 minutes. Finish up by rubbing the olive oil into your smooth hands! (Note that this is not a good time to apply polish. If you need to polish, wash hands and rub a cotton pad with some alcohol over nail beds.)

Do you have ever get dry cuticles or skin around your nail? For that, I use a medium-roughness emery board, on dry skin only, near the nail without touching the nail bed. This is a golden trick that works like magic for me, especially when I am not at home and only have a nail file! Do not file your nail surface or sides as that will cause ridges and can damage the nail bed.

Make your manicure and hand care a part of your beauty routine, and you will see a difference in a short time. Most of all, remember that everyone, bloggers and nail pros included, gets hang nails, dry cuticles or nail chips!

Did you enjoy this post? And would you like me to share more tips and favourite products?